Scrap Iron City
Formerly a robotics factory, Scrap Iron City is a settlement located on the fringes of the Detroit Wasteland. Never a wealthy place, Scrap Iron City has fallen under the control of the Army of Revolution, who have repurposed it and its populace towards their own ends. History The settlement that is now known as Scrap Iron City began its life decades before the war as Heston’s Fake Moustache Factory (“quality faux facial hair for the discerning gentleman”). In the 2060s, after a series of buyouts and mergers, it was rebuilt into an ACME Robotics Corporation assembly plant, used to construct the C-27 Humanoid Robot among other models. Originally serving the labour market, much of its output was redirected towards the military and governmental sectors as the Resource Wars escalated towards their inevitable conclusion. On the morning of October 23, 2077, the on-duty factory staff received warning of the incoming Chinese nuclear attack on the United States, and the bulk of them were evacuated. A few stayed behind to put the factory into lockdown mode, in order to ensure that it would not be looted until proper order could be restored. While the factory itself was not damaged in the war, those inside found themselves isolated, trapped inside the building as the world went to hell around them, ironically sealed in by the same protocols that were keeping the rest of the world out. Eventually they would succumb to starvation, but not before leaving behind a deadly legacy. Under the lockdown protocol, the robots at the factory remained on standby to protect it against any unauthorised access. As a result, the first humans to rediscover the factory as they returned to the city in the 2130s found themselves facing off with armed and dangerous robots who used lethal force to turn back intruders. The factory quickly gained a reputation as a death trap, with only the most brave and foolhardy daring to go near it. Those that did approach were attacked without warning, with no offers of surrender or chance to retreat. As a result, the factory remained largely untouched until the end of the century, even as the rest of the district crumbled around it. By that point, few had been near it in years, not wanting to risk the ire of the homicidal robots inside. It was not until 2203 that anyone was able to enter the factory proper, and even then it was largely by mistake. Having been driven from their home, the surviving members of the Death Blades raider gang found themselves desperate for refuge from an incoming radiation storm. Knowing the risks that the factory represented, they opted to try and enter it regardless rather then stay out in the open. To their surprise, the raiders found that they were not immediately attacked, and instead were able to enter the building unharmed. What they discovered inside explained the unexpected situation. The robots were there, but were entirely shut down and unresponsive. Further investigation revealed that the factory’s central computer had failed at some point around 2198, taking the automated defences off-line with it. Nobody knew about this development because nobody had been brave enough to go near the factory, let alone enter it for fear that the robots would attack them. Taking advantage of this unexpected windfall, the Death Blades made themselves at home within the abandoned factory. While none of them had the technical know-how to restore its systems (and few were willing to tinker, lest they trigger a killer robot attack) they were able to break into the facility’s stores and arm themselves. Furthermore, they knew that the factory would be a perfect base of operations; since nobody would come near it, they could operate with impunity. Soon, the revitalised Blades of Death were striking out, hitting settlements and trade caravans across the region. Unfortunately for them, the raiders quickly became cocky and sloppy, feeling that they had outsmarted their opponents. A scouting party from Chryslus Castle followed them back to their base of operations, and discovered the truth about the factory’s condition. Now with nothing to fear, the castle sent a strike team to eliminate the raiders, and secure the factory for their own. After a short, one-sided battle, the Blades of Death had been wiped out to a man. Seeing an opportunity to expand their influence, Chryslus Castle let the condition of the factory be known, drawing in interested parties from across the Wasteland. Their goal was to set it up as a vassal state, one that would be dependant on them while serving their needs. At the same time, the Castle used the newfound colony as a dumping ground for its own ‘undesirable’ elements, removing them from their population and depositing them somewhere else. Instead, this move backfired as the newly-named Scrap Iron City cut a trade deal with Park Lane, allowing it a measure of independence from its parent state. Having firmly established itself as its own entity, Scrap Iron City turned to the one resource it had in abundance: scrap. The city sent out teams into the surrounding wastelands, pouring over the collapsed factories and other detritus for anything of value. This was then traded to Park Lane and other settlements in exchange for food and other supplies, helping the foundling city stabilise and even grow. At the same time, its leaders were careful to avoid entanglement with Chryslus Castle, lest the settlement try to bring them to heel. Instead, the greatest threat to Scrap Iron City turned out to be the Army of Revolution. Due to its position on the north-west side of the Detroit Wasteland, Scrap Iron City was within easy reach of the Revolutionaries’ growing strength. Their scavenging crews, and then the city itself, was raided throughout the 2260s as the Revolutionaries grew in size and capabilities. It was only after the city hired mercenaries themselves that the attacks ended, but even then the revolutionaries remained lurking in the background. They would return with a vengeance at the start of the Revolutionary War. In the opening day of the conflict, the Army of Revolution invaded Scrap Iron City with a massive force. Completely unprepared for an attack of such size and so well organised, the city fell quickly to the attackers. Due to its position, it remained well behind the Revolutionary’s advance, safely ensconced within their territories. And even as their offensive fell apart and their armies crumbled, Scrap Iron City remained safely in their hands. Wasting no time, the Army of Revolution put the city to use. The scavenging patrols were stepped up, and strict production quotas were set for the volume of material recovered. Raw materials were either retained by the army for their own use, or traded to the Foundry in exchange for weapons, armour and ammunition. At first, Scrap Iron City proved to be a massive boon, allowing them to gather materials and recover valuable technology while preserving their own forces. However, about a year after the end of the war, problems began. While the city itself was not attacked, instead its scavenging teams and trade caravans were targeted by raiders who seemed to have insider knowledge of their operations and schedule. These attacks slowed production, while also costing the Army the material they were supposed to be supplying the Foundry. In return, the Foundry reduced their own weapons shipments back to the Army. Added to this, the army found that there were constant problems within the city itself; missing supplies, shop floor accidents, unreliable robots and so on. All of this pointed to sabotage, but efforts on the Revolutionaries’ part to find the source of the problem proved futile. Massive expenditure of manpower and several bloody purges revealed nothing, and instead cost the Army time and resources that it could not afford to spare. The accidental destruction of Baggie High would only have a detrimental effect on the situation in Scrap Iron City. First and foremost, the influx of new people, both the relocating Army of Revolution garrison and refugees from Baggie High, served to overwhelm the city’s capacity to house them. The arriving soldiers were forced to double bunk with the existing garrison, which served to immediately exacerbate the poor morale they had been suffering. Likewise, the arriving refugees were crammed into civilian living quarters, putting further duress on the already overstressed workforce that was already subject to erratic disruptions and paranoid security checks. In light of these events the disruptions predictably got worse. Now the Army were confronted with tired, surly and uncooperative workers who were being pushed past the limits of their patience. Determined to fix the problem and end it for all time, Major Bunsen ordered a harsh crackdown, imprisoning any worker who refused to cooperate or was seen as failing at their job. However, this broad mandate included those that were deliberately being disruptive, as well as those falling behind in production due to having to lost sleep and shortages of rations. Inevitably, this crackdown triggered a full-scale uprising against the occupying revolutionaries. Using sheer weight of numbers as well as their better knowledge of the facility, a group of workers took control of production and essentially locked the Army of Revolution out, completely cutting them off from their production. Consequently, it also cut the Army off from its main source of materials for trading with the Foundry. After his initial bullishness, Bunsen was reluctant to act, for fear of further inflaming the situation and disrupting production even more. Major Maurice Speckler stepped in, sending in his own troops to put down the problem, citing his success in the management of Baggie High as justification for his actions. The result was a breakdown in communications as the two fought each other for control of the situation, who both sending runners back to the Mental Hospital to get clarification from Colonel Martin Kruger as to who had command of the situation. Kruger replied by recalling Speckler to the hospital in order to streamline the tangled chain of command. In the meantime, the insurgents escaped, slipping into the maze of the factory’s lower levels. Army of Revolution forces reoccupied the factory floor, and quickly reinstituted production. Far from ending the uprising, the events had only served to fuel the flames of resistance. Soon the Revolutionary soldiers within the city were subject to near random attacks, while the production problems continued. On the 14th of June 2287, Gerald Bunsen, the commander of the garrison forces in Scrap Iron City, was killed in a horrific accident involving a smelter. Given the situation within the city, this event was immediately treated with suspicion, and that this was the latest move by the city’s resistance movement. Bunsen’s second, Isabella Webb, quickly took command of the city; a brief exchange of runners made it clear that her first task would be to locate Bunsen’s killer and ensure that they were bought to very public justice. Instead, Webb publicly declared her (and Scrap Iron City’s) allegiance to former colonel Olivia Milton, stating that Kruger’s coup had been an illegal action aimed at covering up his own incompetence and failings. As she did, several officers within her command were summarily arrested by soldiers loyal to her in order to ensure that there would be no direct opposition to her move. Scrap Iron City’s supposed resistance proved to be suddenly silent during these events, having actually been effectively controlled by one of Webb’s men all along. Immediately, Webb faced orders from Kruger to stand down and surrender herself, her men and Scrap Iron City to him. She instead declared that Milton was the Army of Revolution’s legitimate leader and declared Kruger to be a traitor and opportunist who had deliberately misconducted the Revolutionary War to cover himself in personal glory. She also sent out a call for loyal members of the Army to join her in her support of Milton. Frustrated by her rebellion and the lack of an obvious negotiated solution, he instead ordered loyalist troops to march on Scrap Iron City. However, those orders were not followed through on. Instead, confusion reigned throughout the Army of Revolution as its forces began to split into pro-Kruger loyalist and pro-Milton rebel factions. Those within the Rebel faction marched on Scrap Iron City, but did such in support of Webb. Soon the city’s garrison swelled as rebel soldiers helped fortify the facility and protect it against loyalist attack. While forces from the Loyalist faction did probe the factory, few were willing to actually attack it. Not only was it heavily fortified and now well defended, but there was a degree of reluctance within the Army’s ranks against taking up arms against their own comrades. Webb, in the meantime, played to these concerns to ensure that Scrap Iron City remained secure against attack and further discourage any action by Kruger or his loyalists. Description Scrap Iron City is entirely contained within a pre-war factory. While its exterior has remained intact over the years, the interior of the facility has undergone massive changes in its transformation from a robot factory into a settlement. Much of the original heavy machinery has been dismantled (and sold for scrap) to make way for living quarters and other amenities, giving its population a safe, secure and not entirely uncomfortable place to dwell. The remainder of the facility has been given over to their factory floor, where salvage recovered by the scavenging crews is sorted depending on its intended use. Overall, the settlement is dirty, grimy and loud, but is still far safer and habitable then the outside world. Surrounding the factory is a sea of fully and partially collapsed buildings, most of them originally industrial in nature. These ruins have long since been picked clean by the scavengers, and now serve little purpose. Since their occupation of the factory, the Army of Revolution has set up guard posts in the ruins to watch against attacks. Population Before its conquest during the Revolutionary War, Scrap Iron City had a population of both humans and Ghouls. Many of them were outcasts from other communities (but not yet desperate enough to resort to becoming raiders or going to Arsetown) or the descendants of the original settlers. Scrap Iron City held no biases based on race or background, as long as an individual was willing to work for the community in some constructive manner. In addition, the city had restored several C-27 robots for use as heavy labour. Wary of the factory’s past, these robots have been disarmed and their capabilities limited in order to prevent them from turning on the population. Very little has changed since the city’s conquest, however the Army of Revolution makes no attempts to hide its dislike towards Ghouls. Not only have they been given the most dangerous and menial tasks but the eye of suspicion has fallen heavily on the Ghoul population as the source of the problems that have plagued the city. While nothing has been proven, this has only served to increase tensions within the city. Government Scrap Iron City is under the direct control of the Army of Revolution. Much like Baggie High, they run it as am military facility, with the garrison commander acting as the overall head of state. Below them is the leader of the factory floor, who oversees the scavenging operations. While nominally a civilian position, they are still answerable to the Garrison Commander. The Army of Revolution's soldiers serve as police and defence force for the community, protecting it from threats from without and within Notable Inhabitants Gerald Bunsen The millitary commander of Scrap Iron City, Gerald Bunsen is a career officer in the Army of Revolution who has served with the organisation since its founding. Initially, he saw the command of the city as a plum assignment, one that would prove his worth to the Army’s leadership as he transformed it into a vital part of their supply chain. Instead, he has watched as everything has gone wrong around him with the city’s activities facing constant disruption and attacks. This, in turn, has jeopardised the Army of Revolution’s alliance with the Foundry, as they have been unable to supply the materials they promised. Despite all his efforts, Bunsen has not been able to turn these problems around; if anything, matters have gotten worse since he began to fight back. He has become afraid for his future, feeling that it is only a matter of time before he is replaced and likely executed for incompetence. Having once been a relatively polished officer, he has since become a nervous wreck, given to drinking and smoking heavily. Isabella Webb Gerald Bunsen’s second in command, Isabella Webb has been largely shielded from the issues that have been plaguing the city and its garrison for the last four years. A capable officer who rose through the ranks on the back of her own initiative and skills, Webb is none the less seen as being an uninteresting individual whose career has stalled due to her lack of charisma and presence. While many saw her assignment to the troubled Scrap Iron City as career death sentence, she instead managed to dodge the proverbial bullet as much of the trouble remained on Bunsen’s shoulders. A stern woman, Webb has little humour in her and a lack of love for timewasters or those who play at politics (Another possible reason why her career had stalled). Likewise, she has been openly critical of the running of the Revolutionary war, claiming it was fraught with ‘obvious mistakes’. Conversely, she is popular with the men she commands, and does her best to ensure that they are well looked after. Following Bunsen's death, Webb took control of Scrap Iron City and declared her loyalty to Olivia Milton, whom she saw as the legitimate leader of the Army of Revolution Ralph Koslowski The leader of Scrap Iron City's ‘factory floor, Ralph Koslowski has held the position for over a decade. He survived the Army of Revolution’s takeover largely by being indispensable, thanks to his extensive knowledge of the city's operations at every level. In turn the Army of Revolution realised that replacing him would be more trouble then it was worth, especially given his popularity among the workers. This has not prevented him from falling under suspicion as being the source of the city's problems, however. Koslowski has been questioned several time, but has continued to deny any involvement with the sabotage. Major Bunsen has kept him under close surveillance no less, convinced that he is somehow involved with the attacks, but as yet unable to prove it. Frank Hodgson An unremarkable member of the revolutionary garrison, Frank Hodgson is a scrawny young man who seems to have little personal drive other then to keep himself alive. He serves as a general purpose dogsbody, courier, errand boy and any number of other minor tasks that the garrison’s leadership feel are beneath “proper” soldiers. He seems to be happy with this outcome, as it keeps him off the frontlines and away from danger. The truth is that Frank is actually Lisa Milton, the niece of disgraced former AoR leader Olivia Milton. In disguise she has infiltrated the garrison’s ranks, and has been the one leaking information to Raiders and other groups while sabotaging production. For now, they have managed to remain undetected, using the combination of their dual identity and their alter-ego’s anonymity to stay off the radar. Category:Communities Category:Places Category:Michigan